Happiness (Civ5)
Happiness is a measure of contentment within an empire, and is necessary to keep a civilization functioning normally. It is counteracted by Unhappiness, which naturally increases as the game progresses. The two stats form a balance, which changes constantly. Levels of Happiness There are three levels of Happiness: happy, unhappy, and very unhappy. An empire with Happiness balance of zero or greater is considered happy. Happy civilizations grow as normal, and each turn's Happiness value is added to the empire's Golden Age counter. A civilization with Happiness balance below zero is unhappy. An unhappy empire causes each city's food surplus to be reduced by 75%, drastically reducing population growth. In Brave New World, there are additional effects, see below for more info. A civilization with Happiness balance of -10 or lower is very unhappy. A very unhappy empire does not grow at all, suffers a Production penalty, receives a nasty combat penalty (-33%) for all its units, and cannot train settlers. Furthermore, when Happiness drops to -20, the civilization's cities go into revolt, and rebels start appearing throughout the empire, based on the number of cities. The rebels are similar to barbarians, but appear in groups. Once a group of rebels spawns, another group will not appear for a while. Again, for the exact effects of Unhappiness in Brave New World, see below. Unhappiness Unhappiness directly subtracts from Happiness, and increases as a civilization grows. There are several sources of Unhappiness. *Number of Cities: Each city in an empire adds +3 Unhappiness. *Population: A living person is an unhappy person. Each of a civilization's citizens automatically generates +1 Unhappiness. *Puppet Cities: Each puppet city in an empire adds roughly twice the amount of Unhappiness that a normal city does. The exact amount varies. This penalty can be negated by constructing a Courthouse in the puppet city. *Annexed Cities: Each annexed city in an empire produces roughly three times the amount of Unhappiness of a normal city. The exact amount again varies. This penalty can also be removed by constructing a Courthouse in the city. *Razing Cities: Razing a city creates the same amount of Unhappiness as annexing a city. This Unhappiness disappears once the city is destroyed. *Occupied Population: Each citizen in a puppet, annexed, or currently razed city generates 1.33 Unhappiness, 33% more than a regular citizen. * Public Opinion: Only possible once you have adopted an Ideology. If another civilization with differing Ideology has stronger cultural influence on your empire than yours, your Public Opinion starts generating Unhappiness. Happiness Sources In order to counteract Unhappiness and continue an empire's growth, Happiness must be increased. There are many ways to do so. *Luxury Resources: For every different luxury resource a civilization possesses at least one of, the empire receives +4 Happiness. *Buildings: The Circus, Colosseum, Theatre, (Zoo in Brave New World), and Stadium are the main options, but there are other more situational choices, such as the Stone Works. *Wonders: Many wonders provide varying amounts of Happiness. *Social Policies: Almost all Social Policy trees have some way of boosting a civilization's Happiness. Common methods include granting Happiness from certain buildings and reducing the Unhappiness generated by population. *Natural Wonders: Discovering each Natural Wonder grants a permanent +1 Happiness bonus to the empire that first finds it. *Ancient Ruins: A permanent Happiness boost is one of the many effects discovering Ancient Ruins can bestow. ''Brave New World'' Changes Happiness has been reworked in the Brave New World expansion pack, with the introduction of the new Ideology mechanics, including the Public Opinion. If it is not 'Content', it now adds directly to Unhappiness, and the exact amount of points added depends either on the number of cities, or the number of population (whichever is greater). First, the effects of an Unhappy empire have been changed - now each point of Unhappiness below 0 gives a penalty of -2% Production and Gold output (applies directly to the output of each city), as well as -2% Combat Strength for all units. Effect on city growth is the same as before (1/4 temp, as if you were adding to your Food Basket only 1/4 of the normal amount you would otherwise add). At -10 ("Very Unhappy"), population growth stops completely, you can't train Settlers any more and rebellions erupt at regular intervals in the form of 'Barbarian' units appearing right near a city of yours. Production, Gold and Combat Strength continue to lower steadily. Finally, when your empire's Happiness reaches -20, given your Public Opinion is low, some of your cities may start to revolt and change their allegiance to other empires following their Preferred Ideology. The effect is as if the other empire suddenly acquired the city in question. Border cities are most likely to defect, and the civilization they go to is the closest one with the Preferred Ideology. Clearly, this presents a grave danger for your empire, while at the same time the new gradual worsening of the situation feels more natural (as opposed to simply having an 'Unhappy' and 'Very Unhappy' stage). Strategy Keeping your Empire happy is difficult, but important. The main thing you need to remember is that your Empire gets gradually unhappy, as time goes - whether it is from Population growth, or due to more cities being founded or conquered. To counter this, the first thing you need to do in the first stage of the game, is get access to as many luxury resources as you can get hold onto. Later, you'll have to depend more on Buildings and Social policies, especially when Ideology kicks in. Try to keep your empire happy at all times, but don't despair if your empire's Happiness becomes negative for some turns - it's not the end of the world. Try to negotiate some more Luxuries, or build Happiness-boosting buildings, and think of some long-term strategy to boost your Happiness (such as building up to a particular Social policy or building a particular Wonder). Or, try to eliminate any extra Unhappiness, for example the one from Occupied cities. Also in Brave New World, when you need to deal with Public Opinion, the only thing you can really do to prevent (or eliminate) Unhappiness from this source is to develop your Culture as much as you can to counter foreign influence. This way you can at least keep the Public Opinion's Unhappiness at manageable levels. Or, if you have the info available, try adopting the Ideology of the culturally stronger nations - this way they won't influence you! Note: Adopting Order generates 1 happiness per city. Category:Game concepts Category:Game concepts (Civ5)